Harekrishna Roy et al / Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Vol. 2 (5), 2010,

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1 Preliminary phytochemical investigation and anthelmintic activity of Acanthospermum hispidum DC. Harekrishna Roy*, Anup Chakraborty, Satyabrata Bhanja, Bhabani Shankar Nayak Sruti Ranjan Mishra, P. Ellaiah. Department of Pharmacognosy, Jeypore College of Pharmacy, Rondapalli, Jeypore (Koraput), Odisha, India Abstract: Acanthospermum hispidum DC. is found in the tribal area of Koraput and Malkangiri districts and traditionally used by the tribal people as anthelmintic, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, carminative and antifungal. No systematic study was conducted on A.hispidum DC. The present work was conducted to investigate the preliminary phytochemical studies and anthelmentic activities on the leaves of A.hispidum DC against adult Indian earthworms, Pheretima postuma. Various concentrations (525 mg/ml) of each extract along with the reference samples (Piperazine citrate, Albendazole) were subjected for anthelmintic activity study. The qualitative test revealed that the petroleum ether extracts contained only terpenoids but chloroform and hydroalcoholic (Ethanol 70% v/v) extracts exhibited the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, tannins and saponins but amino acids and steroids were absent. All the extracts showed anthelmintic activity when compared with petroleum ether and chloroform extracts. The anthelmintic activity of hydroalcoholic extract was comparable with reference drugs. The data were verified as statistically significant by using one way ANOVA at 5 % level of significance (p < 0.05). Keywords: Acanthospermum hispidum DC, Pheretima postuma, Anthelmintic, Hydroalcoholic, Albendazole, Piperazine citrate. Introduction: Medicinal plants have served through ages, as a constant source of medicaments for the treatment of a variety of diseases [1]. The history of herbal medicine is almost as old as human civilization. The plants are known to provide a rich source of botanical anthelmintics, antibacterials and insecticides [2]. A number of medicinal plants have been used to treat parasitic infections in man and animals. Parasitic helminthes effect the human beings as well as animals leading to considerable hardship and stunted growth. The parasitic invasion is caused by mixed infections with several species of stomach and intestinal worms. Chemical control of helminthes coupled with improved management has been the important worm control strategy throughout the world. Despite extensive use of synthetic chemicals in modern clinical practices all over the world, interest in exploiting potential use of plants [3] as source of drugs are under study. Acanthospermum hispidum DC belongs to family Asteraceae and also called as Bidigadi Kanta (Odisha), Bristly Starbur or Goathead (English), Herbe tricorne (French), Carapichno (Spanish).The plant commonly known as Bristly Starbur, is an upright annual with dichotomous (Yshaped) branching. The Yshaped form of branching gives the plant one of its common names, Slingshot Weed. The scientific name of the genus, Acanthospermum, is from the Greek words acantha (thorn) and sperma (seed) and refers to the prickly fruit. Hispidum is Latin, and means rough, shaggy, prickly or bristly. The stems are densely covered with hairs. Some leaves can be up to 11.5 cm long. The margins of the leaves can have irregular teeth or they may be entire and smooth. The flowers are typical of the Aster or Daisy Family. Each head has 59 ray flowers. The petals (corollas) of the ray flowers are pale yellow and are about 1.5 mm long. The fruits are flattened and triangular in shape. These fruits are covered with stiff, hooked hairs and have either a straight or curved pair of spines at the top. The literature survey reveals that various parts of A. hispidum DC have been used as a folklore medicine for 217

2 Fig. 1: Leaves and flowers of Acanthospermum hispidum DC. curing various ailments. There are no sufficient reports on systematic and scientific study of anthelmintic activities of leafy extracts. As such; it is proposed to carry out the preliminary phytochemical screening and anthelmintic on the leaves of A. hispidum DC. Materials and Methods: Plant materials: The leaves of A. hispidum were collected in the month of July 2009, from open field Rondapalli, Koraput (Odisha). The collected plant with complet herbarium was authenticated at Botanical survey of India, Howrah, [CNH/II/ (340)/2009/Tech.II/382/90]. The leaves were collected and dried under subdued sun light and then homogenized to get coarse power. The powder was stored in a dessicator for further use. Preparation of crude extracts: The powdered mass was exhaustively extracted successively in soxhlet apparatus using solvents like petroleum ether, chloroform and hydroalcohol (Ethanol 70 % v/v) based on their polarity. Finally extracts were concentrated under reduced pressure using rotary evaporator and stored for further analysis. Preliminary Phytochemicals analysis: During preliminary phytochemical screening tests were mainly concluded to alkaloids, carbohydrates, saponins, flavonoids, tannins and terpenoids. The constituents are reported in Table 1. Preliminary Anthelmintic activity screening: The anthelmintic activity was performed according to the method of Ghosh et al. [4] on adult Indian earthworm Pheritima posthuma as it has anatomical and physiological resemblance with the intestinal roundworm parasites of human beings. All the extracts were dissolved in minimum amount of dimethyl sulphoxide and then volume was adjusted with saline water. Three groups were prepared control (saline water), reference samples (piperazine citrate and albendazole at 10 mg/ml and the extracts of (5, 10, 20 and 25 mg/ml). The reference samples and extract solutions were prepared freshly before starting he experiment. Observations were made for the time taken to paralyze or death of individual worms. Paralysis was said to occur when the worms do not receive any sense even in normal saline. Death was concluded when the worms lose their motility followed with fading away of their body color, when dipped in warm water (50 0 C). The results are shown in Table II depict the time taken for paralysis and death of worms after treatment with the extracts at the selected concentrations. Statistical analysis The data on biological studies were reported as mean ± Standard deviation (n = 5). For determining the statistical significance, standard error mean and analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5 % level significance was employed. The P values < 0.05 were considered as significant [5]. 218

3 Table 1: Phytochemical qualitative analysis and percentage yield of Acanthospermum hispidum DC leaves. Extracts Chemical tests Petroleum ether extract (PE) Chloroform extract (CE) Hydroalcoholic extract (HE) Carbohydrates Alkaloids Glycoside Flavonoids Tannins Terpenoids Saponins Aminoacids Steroids % yield (w/w) () indicates presence, () indicates absence. Table 2: Comparative anthelmintic activity of the extracts with reference samples. Test substances Concentration(mg/ml) Time taken for paralysis(min.) (X±SEM) Time taken for death(min.) (X±SEM) Control Pet ether extract(pe) ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ±0.73 Chloroform extract(ce) ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ±0.84 Hydroalcoholic extract(he) ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ±0.53 Albendazole(AL) ± ±0.82 Piperazine citrate(pc) ± ±0.39 ANOVA source of variation ss df MS F Pvalue F crit Between the group Within group total Results are expressed as mean ± Standard error mean (n=6). 219

4 PE: Pet. ether extract, CE: Chloroform extract, HE: Hydroalcoholic extract, AL: Albendazole, PC: Piperazine citrate. Each bar is representing mean ± S.E. (n=6). Fig. 2: Time taken to paralyze by leafy extracts of Acanthospermum hispidum DC at different concentrations and reference samples. PE: Pet. ether extract, CE: Chloroform extract, HE: Hydroalcoholic extract, AL: Albendazole, PC: Piperazine citrate. Each bar is representing mean ± S.E.(n=6) Fig. 3: Time taken to death by leafy extracts of Acanthospermum hispidum DC at different concentrations and reference samples. Results and Discussion: Preliminary phytochemical screening indicated the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, saponins, glycosides, tannins, flavonoids and terpenoids (Table 1).All the extracts showed the anthelmentic activity in dose dependent manner at 5 to 25 mg/ml. The chloroform and hydroalcoholic extracts of A. hispidum revealed significant anthelmintic activity [68]. The hydroalcoholic extract shown better paralytic value and death at 10 mg/ml than the standards (Fig 2 and 3). The chloroform extract also showed satisfactory result at concentration of 10 mg/ml. The presence of alkaloids, 220

5 glycosides and tannins may be the 9, 10, responsible chemical constituents for demonstrating anthelmintic activity. The possible mechanism of tannins may to interfere with energy generation by uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation or they may interfere with glycoprotein of cell surface. It was also possible that alkaloids may act on central nervous system and caused paralysis of the Pheritima posthuma worms. All data were found to be significant at 5 % level of significance (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It could be concluded and confirmed that the hydroalcoholic extract of leaves of A. hispidum DC has anthelmintic activity comparable with standard drugs, which is a significant result. Further studies are required to identify the actual chemical constituents that are present in the crude extracts of this plant which are responsible for anthelmintic activity [1113]. It is, however, suggested to conduct further research on pure chemical constituents to critically evaluate their activity on a large number of animals [14, 15]. Acknowledgement: Authors are thankful to the all the members of department of Pharmacognosy, Jeypore College of Pharmacy for their cooperation during the whole research work. Authors are also thankful to the Botanical survey of India, Howrah, Kolkata, for authentication and identification of this plant. References: [1] Chopra RN, Nayer SL, Chopra IC. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. 3rd Edn. New Delhi (India); 1956: [2] Kala CP, Farooquee NA, Dhar U. Prioritization of medicinal plants on the basis of available knowledge, existing practices and use value status in Uttaranchal, India. Biodiversity and Conservation, 2004; 13: [3] The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, Part I, Vol. I, Government of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; [4] Ghosh T, Maity TK, Bose A and Dash GK. Anthelmintic activity of Bacopa monierri. Indian J. Nat Product 2005; 21: [5] Bolton S. In Pharmaceutical Statistics Practical and Clinical Applications. New York: Marcel Dekker; [6] Chaterjee KD. Parasitology, protozoology and helminthology. Sree Saraswati press Ltd, 3 rd Edn. Calcutta; [7] Rastogi T, Bhutda V, Moon K and Aswar PB. Comparative Studies on Anthelmintic Activity of Moringa Oleifera and Vitex Negundo. Asian J. Research Chem. 2009; 2(2): [8] Mali RG, Mahajan SG and Mehta AA. In vitro anthelmintic activity of stem bark of Mimusops elengi Linn. Phcog Mag. 2006; 3(10): 73. [9] Martin RJ. Mode of action of anthelmintic drugs. Vet J. 1997; 154: [10] Anthnasiadou S, Kyriazakis I, Jackson F and Coop RL. Direct anthelmintic effects of condensed tannins towards different gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep: In vitro and in vivo studies. Vet Parasitol 2000; 99: [11] Iqbal Z, Nadeem qazi K, Khan MN. In Vitro Anthelmintic activity of Allium sativum, Zingiber officinale, Curcurbita mexicana and Ficus religiosa. Int. J. of Agr. & Bio 2001; 3: [12] Chemical Investigation and antiinflammatory activity of Vitex negundo seeds, J. Nat Prdt 1992; 55(2): [13] Gathuma JM, Mbaria JM, Wanyama J, Kaburia HF. Efficacy of Myrsine africana, Albizia anthelmintica and Hilderbrantia sepalosa herbal remedies in Samburu district, Kenya. J Ethnopharmcol 2004; 91: 712. [14] Waller PJ. International approaches to the concept of integrated control of nematode parasites of livestock. Int. J. Parasitol 1999; 29: [15] Akhtar MS. Anthelmintic evaluation of indigenous medicinal plants for veterinary usage. Final Research Report, Dept. Physiol. Pharmacol., Univ. Agri., Faisalabad Pakistan;